Ficlet Challenge #72: "Loss"
Title: Loss
Summary: Druella Black never believed in divination. Until one sentence changed everything.
Characters/Pairings: Druella Black
Genre: Angst?
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 696
Author's Note: Could I/we have a Druella Black character tag, please? :D
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes!
Druella Black had never believed in divination. Had always lived in the present rather than any other time, refusing to believe it was possible to see the future. She’d only shaken her head in incredulity when she’d been told the impossible; when she’d been told she’d lose her middle daughter.
Lose her middle daughter? Lose Andromeda? No. No, she wouldn’t. Of course she wouldn’t! It was ridiculous to believe that any of her daughters would ever leave her, hadn’t they been raised to never forget about their values.
So why… Why wouldn’t she be able to forget about these words, why wouldn’t she be able to just forget about what had been said? Druella had never seen the person who so shamelessly had presumed to speak to her in Knockturn Alley, to tell her about her own future. How dared she assume people would tolerate her impertinence? How dared she-
No. No, she’d not spend another thought on this, wouldn’t allow her mind to be bothered with ridiculous lies, spoken out by a fraud in desperate attempts to gain attention. For just a second Druella closed her eyes, giving a deep sigh as she locked up the door to her home. It had already become dark, she’d stayed out for much longer than she’d intended. She was tired, wanted nothing more than to sit down in her chair and read.
But the woman’s words had angered her, had angered her more than she dared to admit. What if-
No. She hadn’t been right, of course she hadn’t been right! It was impossible to even assume-
Quickly Druella shook her head, jumping up from her chair only a second after she’d sat down, taking a deep breath to regain control over her thoughts. She was disgusted by her weakness, disgusted by her own thoughts. How dared she, let such an irrelevant incident unsettle her so much? How dared she assume this fraud could have been right? As if it was possible to see the future… Divination was nothing more than deception, deception performed by those who were unwilling to pursue an actual profession. To believe that a subject like this was taught in a school of magic, to believe that her daughters-
She wouldn’t even finish her thought, wouldn’t allow herself to intensify her anger even more. Why had she lost control? Why had she lost control, for the first time after so many years? Weren’t those words? Nothing but words, meaningless, insignificant?
“Andromeda!” she shouted, all of a sudden, wouldn’t even realise what she did. Hadn’t she wanted to talk to her for days? Hadn’t she wanted to discuss several things with her, never having found the right opportunity? Perhaps today would be the day, perhaps today she’d finally be able to talk to her for longer than only a few minutes.
“Andromeda?” she asked again, her voice harsh and cold. She did not like to be kept waiting, not by her daughters, not by anyone. Slowly she stepped up the stairs to the first floor, heading for Andromeda’s room, angry, confused by her daughter’s failure to respond to her. Her movements froze as soon she’d raised her hand to knock at the door. Wouldn’t it be possible that she was asleep already? Perhaps she’d gone to bed early, perhaps-
No. No, this was impossible. Her daughter never went to bed before herself, so why today? Why should she have gone today? Again she raised her hand, wouldn’t even knock at the door but only enter the room, just to find it empty.
Empty.
Druella gasped for breath, closing her eyes just to open them again only a second later. Perhaps she’d not yet returned home, perhaps-
No.
Slowly she took a few steps forward, unable to suppress a wince as she noticed the small envelope on the drawer, slowly reached out her hand…
Forgive me, mother.
The parchment fell down to the floor. Her entire body started to shake as she turned around, leaving the room, just leaving…
She’d lost her. It had come true… It all had come true! Druella had lost her daughter, had lost her… Lost! And she knew that it would be forever.
696/30 = 23,2 = 23
+ Challenge Bonus
= 28 points for Hufflepuff!
Summary: Druella Black never believed in divination. Until one sentence changed everything.
Characters/Pairings: Druella Black
Genre: Angst?
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 696
Author's Note: Could I/we have a Druella Black character tag, please? :D
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: Yes!
Druella Black had never believed in divination. Had always lived in the present rather than any other time, refusing to believe it was possible to see the future. She’d only shaken her head in incredulity when she’d been told the impossible; when she’d been told she’d lose her middle daughter.
Lose her middle daughter? Lose Andromeda? No. No, she wouldn’t. Of course she wouldn’t! It was ridiculous to believe that any of her daughters would ever leave her, hadn’t they been raised to never forget about their values.
So why… Why wouldn’t she be able to forget about these words, why wouldn’t she be able to just forget about what had been said? Druella had never seen the person who so shamelessly had presumed to speak to her in Knockturn Alley, to tell her about her own future. How dared she assume people would tolerate her impertinence? How dared she-
No. No, she’d not spend another thought on this, wouldn’t allow her mind to be bothered with ridiculous lies, spoken out by a fraud in desperate attempts to gain attention. For just a second Druella closed her eyes, giving a deep sigh as she locked up the door to her home. It had already become dark, she’d stayed out for much longer than she’d intended. She was tired, wanted nothing more than to sit down in her chair and read.
But the woman’s words had angered her, had angered her more than she dared to admit. What if-
No. She hadn’t been right, of course she hadn’t been right! It was impossible to even assume-
Quickly Druella shook her head, jumping up from her chair only a second after she’d sat down, taking a deep breath to regain control over her thoughts. She was disgusted by her weakness, disgusted by her own thoughts. How dared she, let such an irrelevant incident unsettle her so much? How dared she assume this fraud could have been right? As if it was possible to see the future… Divination was nothing more than deception, deception performed by those who were unwilling to pursue an actual profession. To believe that a subject like this was taught in a school of magic, to believe that her daughters-
She wouldn’t even finish her thought, wouldn’t allow herself to intensify her anger even more. Why had she lost control? Why had she lost control, for the first time after so many years? Weren’t those words? Nothing but words, meaningless, insignificant?
“Andromeda!” she shouted, all of a sudden, wouldn’t even realise what she did. Hadn’t she wanted to talk to her for days? Hadn’t she wanted to discuss several things with her, never having found the right opportunity? Perhaps today would be the day, perhaps today she’d finally be able to talk to her for longer than only a few minutes.
“Andromeda?” she asked again, her voice harsh and cold. She did not like to be kept waiting, not by her daughters, not by anyone. Slowly she stepped up the stairs to the first floor, heading for Andromeda’s room, angry, confused by her daughter’s failure to respond to her. Her movements froze as soon she’d raised her hand to knock at the door. Wouldn’t it be possible that she was asleep already? Perhaps she’d gone to bed early, perhaps-
No. No, this was impossible. Her daughter never went to bed before herself, so why today? Why should she have gone today? Again she raised her hand, wouldn’t even knock at the door but only enter the room, just to find it empty.
Empty.
Druella gasped for breath, closing her eyes just to open them again only a second later. Perhaps she’d not yet returned home, perhaps-
No.
Slowly she took a few steps forward, unable to suppress a wince as she noticed the small envelope on the drawer, slowly reached out her hand…
Forgive me, mother.
The parchment fell down to the floor. Her entire body started to shake as she turned around, leaving the room, just leaving…
She’d lost her. It had come true… It all had come true! Druella had lost her daughter, had lost her… Lost! And she knew that it would be forever.
696/30 = 23,2 = 23
+ Challenge Bonus
= 28 points for Hufflepuff!